Managing the prison system is not an easy job.

Administrators of the system are criticised by the media, victims and the public of recklessness when releasing prisoners on parole early; especially when they continue to commit crime. Along-side this criticism of early-bail offenders they are criticised by for the living conditions of prisoners in overcrowded prisons, short term fixes for both problems adversely impact one another.

With a legacy of problems passed down from previous governments, increasing prison populations and public pressure for prison sentences to be completed; those who manage this system are damned if they do, and damned if they don’t, especially if they are unlikely to be in position long enough to see the results of long term change.

It is the nature of this climate that drives current policy where, by any means, the problem of prison over crowding, the knock on effects of early release and reduction of prison sentences must be solved as fast as possible. The obvious solution to fix this problem is to build capacity as fast as possible. It is easier, and quicker, to build a few very large prisons than many smaller ones. Pushing planning permission through above local government solves some of the planning issues and therefore the fewer prisons built; the fewer people enraged meaning that new prisons need to be bigger and the bigger the organisation the less effective it can be at reducing reoffending.

Unfortunately, the most obvious, simplistic and quickest solutions are often not the best solutions, especially when you are trying to deal effectively with the most complex and controversial aspects of society.

There can also be a reluctance to change from within the political system where the upsetting of the status quo will inconvenience people, put jobs at risk or simply encroach on different people’s budgets. Preventing positive change for these reasons is simply irresponsible.

The following diagram is from ‘Political Risk Perceptions’ article; you can view that here.

Other articles;

Protection of the public > Article about the key justification for prisons

About PrisonDesign.org > About this website

Problem Overview > General problems with prisons in the UK

Why Prison Design > Why is the design of Prisons and Prison Systems important?